Have you heard? The last day of September (that's today!) is officially Vegan Baking Day. It may not be on the government's radar, a legal holiday (yet) or a charity marathon with a high media profile that involves racing through the city with a basket of muffins. Simply put, it's a day to focus on sharing the deliciousness of vegan baked goods with friends, family, neighbours and colleagues.

Not long ago, I fell in love with vegan baking and would spend countless hours hopelessly experimenting with new flours and flavours in my tiny condo kitchen. After much persuasion from my husband, I finally put myself out there and started sharing my baking results with others—and amazing things happened. Not only did I start to realize my potential, but I made an impact on others. Colleagues became curious about using healthy substitutions in their own kitchens, family members embarked on new ways to improve their diets, and friends sought out advice on cutting meat from their daily meals.

There is nothing more rewarding than sharing your passion with the world and realizing your skills have the potential to change lives, change habits, and even change the world, just by encouraging others to celebrate the deliciousness of a plant-based diet.

In other words, today is about baketivism. This means using vegan baking as a form of activism.


Chocolate chip toffee bars   
(Adapted from Oh She Glows)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup 12-grain flour (or spelt)
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
2 tbsp Earth Balance (or other nondairy spread)
1/4 cup Sucanat
2 tbsp natural almond butter

The last of the Raw Mini Pie Challenge entries rolled in on September 1 while Lisa and I were away enjoying the vegan food scene in San Francisco, and so we were eager to spend our first weekend back home studying all the delicious-looking entries and gearing up for recipe-testing and judging.

After a morning of pie-making in Lisa's condo kitchen, a lovely tasting party in the middle of a vivacious crowd of animal-friendly folks at the food festival, and much discussion among our volunteer taste testers (there were so many, we had to keep a scorecard), we ranked the finalists. Do you want to know who came out on top?



Second Place: Rachel's Blackberry Almond Petite Pie
Rachel's petite pie was a very close runner-up. Prior to her creation, Rachel took a trip down memory lane and went berry-picking in the neighbourhood she grew up in, and she thought a raw pie was the perfect place for her berry haul. Our own version was made up of huge, fresh berries that were bursting with flavour. Paired with an almond creme filling and a simple nut crust, each bite reminded us of summer's best.


Third Place: Jackie's Neopolitan Pie
As soon as we read this post, we knew it was something we had to try. The classic neopolitan reinvented as a raw pie was quite impressive, and although Jackie's lack of mini pie pans meant her mini pie was giant-sized, we still thought the recipe sounded like a winning combination. All three layers of her pie came together nicely, but we agreed the chocolate avocado layer was quite distinct. Some of our taste testers absolutely swooned over this triple-layered treat. If you adore avocado and dark chocolate, then you probably would have voted for Jackie's pie. The bright pink hue of the strawberry layer was another draw. We easily attracted eager eaters with this lovely little pie.


Congratulations to all the winners and to pie eaters everywhere! We had such a wonderful response to this challenge that now we each have a long list of pies to try before we run out of the season's best bounty. Thank you again to everyone who participated and to our generous prize sponsors: VegNews, Vegan Essentials and Rawmazing.

We hope this challenge has inspired you to press a little crust into a tiny tart pan, layer on something luscious, and finish with a topping that's fresh and fruity.

Aside from the Raw Mini Pie Challenge testing extravaganza that occurred over the weekend (we'll be announcing the winners tomorrow!), Lisa and I also put on one heck of a raw dessert demo at the 27th annual Vegetarian Food Festival at Harbourfront Centre.

This particular festival has had a special place in my heart since moving to Toronto in 1998. Known as the largest event of its kind in North America, it is a place where like-minded individuals gather to celebrate cruelty-free food, health and advocacy, discover delicious new products and ideas, and enjoy a variety of inspiring presentations and cooking demos.

And it is the first place where I felt I truly belonged. Growing up in a small town, I had never met other vegans or vegetarians who shared the same passion for animal rights and cruelty-free living. Shortly after my first festival experience, I bought a membership for the Toronto Vegetarian Association and eventually became a volunteer, helping to promote the lifestyle as an outreach leader, photographing the festival, handing out vegetarian restaurant directories, and proofreading the website.

This year's event provided the opportunity to do something I always dreamed of—presenting a dessert demo in front of festival attendees with my partner in kitchen crime, Lisa.


Our demo was titled The Raw Ice Cream of your Dreams. Have you ever dreamed of an ice cream shop that served up sensational sweets free of dairy, eggs and sugar? Well, if you've ever imagined tasting a big scoop of cookie dough, mint Oreo or strawberry cheesecake ice cream delights without any harmful impact on your health or that of your fellow animals, then you would have loved this demo. We served up an enticing menu of frozen confections that are vegan, gluten-free and unbelievably decadent.


Lisa and I saw a number of familiar faces in the packed room (close to 200 attended!), but for someone who isn't used to speaking in front of a crowd, it was certainly nerve-racking for me but also so much fun. Thank you to everyone who came out to support us!


For those who weren't able to be there and taste the samples we shared, I'd like to give you our delicious recipes. They're all quite easy to prepare—the base of each ice cream sundae involves whipping frozen bananas into soft serve. If you've never tried it, I encourage you to put your blender or food processor to work right now.


Strawberry Cheesecake Blizzard (makes 4 servings)
Strawberry swirl:
1 cup strawberries, hulled
1 tsp lemon zest
2 large medjool dates, pitted
2 tsp coconut oil

1. In a food processor, combine the strawberries, zest and dates. Process until smooth.
2. Add the coconut oil and process until well combined.
3. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Crust:
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup raw pecans
pinch of sea salt
4 large medjool dates, pitted

1. In a food processor, pulse the almonds, pecan and sea salt into a fine meal.
2. Add the dates and pulse until well combined.

Banana soft serve:
2 bananas, peeled and frozen
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. In a blender or food processor, blend the bananas until a creamy, ice cream consistency is achieved. Add the lemon juice and pulse to incorporate.

Assembly:
Divide the soft serve between four bowls. Add 1/4 cup of strawberry swirl and 2 tbsp of crust. Swirl the mixture gently with a spoon.


Mint Oreo Cookie Blizzards (makes 4 servings)
Mini mint Oreo cookies:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cacao powder
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. In a blender, blend the cashews into flour, pour into a bowl and set aside.
2. Blend the oats into flour and add to the cashew flour.
3. In the bowl, add the salt and cacao powder. Whisk to combine. Add the vanilla and maple syrup and stir until the mixture becomes a thick, moist dough.
4. Between two sheets of parchment paper, roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Using a small circle cookie cutter (about the size of a toonie), cut out as many cookies as you can. (You're just scoring it in the dough at this point.)
5. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 1 hour. Flip the cookies over and remove the parchment paper. Continue drying for another 2 hours. Remove the cookies from the sheet and store in the refrigerator.

*Freezing option: If you don't own a dehydrator, you can just place the scored dough in the freezer to firm up.

Mint filling:
1/2 large avocado, peeled and pitted
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp pure mint extract
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1. Blend all ingredients, except the coconut oil, until smooth. Add the coconut oil and blend just to combine.
2. Spoon a small amount of the mint filling onto a cookie and place another cookie on top. Repeat with remaining cookies. Place all cookies in the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up, or until ready to use.

Banana soft serve:
2 bananas, peeled and frozen

1. In a blender or food processor, blend the bananas until a creamy, ice cream consistency is achieved.
2. Add 6 Oreo cookies and blend for a few seconds to incorporate.

Assembly:
Spoon the soft serve mixture into four small bowls and top with remaining cookies.


Cookie Dough Blizzards (makes 4 servings)
(Inspired by Oh She Glows)
Cookie dough balls:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup raw chocolate chips (or whatever you have on hand)

1. In your blender, blend the cashews into flour. Pour into a medium bowl.
2. In your blender, blend the oats into a flour and add to the medium bowl.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Stir to combine. Roll the batter into tiny balls. Allow to firm in your freezer.

Banana soft serve:
2 bananas, peeled and frozen

1. In your food processor, blend the bananas until a creamy, ice cream consistency is achieved.
2. For extra blizzard-like goodness, add 2 tbsp of the prepared cookie dough balls and pulse to incorporate.

Assembly:
Divide the soft serve mixture between four small bowls or glasses. Garnish with extra cookie dough balls.

Early last month, Lisa and I put out the call to food bloggers everywhere to create unique mini pie recipes that use only raw, vegan ingredients and celebrate the abundance of fresh produce available in your region. The response was incredible. Freshly picked raspberries, peaches, figs, blackberries, cherries and apricots were transformed into perfect little personal pies, ready to be enjoyed without turning on the oven.


Here are the amazing entries we received for this recipe challenge:

Jess of Cupcakes and Kale made a chocolate raspberry mini pie.


Carol of World Peace Food created a peaches and cream pie.


Rachel of My Munchable Musings made a taste of Tuscany tart.


Rachel of My Munchable Musings also created a blackberry almond petite pie.


Jackie of Vegan Yack Attack made a raw neopolitan pie.


Deanna of The Mommy Bowl entered a triple chocolate cherry pie.


Natasha of The Healing Kitchen made a key lime mini pie.


And Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs made an apricot swirl cheesecake mini pie.


Thank you to everyone who put the time and effort into developing such awe-inspiring recipes. Over the next few days, Lisa and I will take on the difficult task of narrowing down the entries to three finalists. If you're in the Toronto area, we are planning a tasting party this Saturday at the Vegetarian Food Festival to help us choose the winner. Let me know if you're interested in tasting samples and voting for your favourite.